Mary Joanne (Standley) Roberts, age 95, passed away on Sunday, July 5, 2026. Her funeral service will be held Friday, July 10, 2026, at 11:00 AM, at the Sharon Center United Methodist Church in rural Kalona. The service will be available via Livestream at the Beatty Peterseim Facebook and YouTube pages. Burial at the Sharon Center United Methodist Cemetery will follow the funeral. The family will greet friends from 9 – 10:45 AM at the church. The Beatty Peterseim Funeral Home is assisting the family.

Mary Joanne (Standley) Roberts, age 95, passed away on Sunday, July 5, 2026. Jo was born in Boone, Iowa to Waldo and Jennie (Anderson) Standley on April 2, 1931. Jo grew up poor but, as she would say, everyone was poor, so nobody noticed. Jo’s life in the large Standley clan around Boone was filled with small-town fun, crazy uncles, prim aunts, and laughter. Jo learned to play piano from her Aunt Blanche who had accompanied silent movies until talkies came to Boone. Jo laughed at the antics of her uncles including “Wus,” “Ivan,” and “Brownie.” Jo had an older sister, Fern Louise, but Jo was admonished to call her “Sister” or “Teddy.” Jo’s mother and Teddy taught Jo to read when she was very young. She read most of the books in the Boone library walking home behind her mother along the railroad tracks. She developed a particular empathy for kids (especially little boys) who struggled with words on pages. Jo’s empathy later helped many kids sound their way through thickets of letters to become readers.

With untameable red hair and a love for all music, she marched in the drum and bugle corps and played clarinet in the Boone High School band – once unforgettably announced as the “Baboon Band.” Jo’s mother scraped together money to send Jo to Boone Junior College (which was unglamorously housed upstairs at the high school) and later to the Iowa State Teachers College in Cedar Falls. In the summer of 1950, at the campus dining hall, our vivacious redhead met and flirted with a dashing young food service worker from southwest Johnson County. Leonard Roberts proposed to Jo when she was teaching kindergarten in Aplington and he was on leave from the U.S. Army during the Korean War.

Jo and Leonard began their adventures together in June 1954. Their intertwined careers in education carried them from public schools in Cedar Rapids, to Hudson, Jewell and Cambridge. They spent a memorable stint in Maquoketa where (in addition to earning her master’s degree from Clarke College on many drives to Dubuque and teaching in Andrew), Jo ran the music program at the First United Methodist Church and played Fraulein Schneider in the Peace Pipe Players’ Cabaret. Jo and Leonard took their educational expertise to Illinois in the 1980s and ‘90s with stops in Lombard and Bloomington, Illinois. Jo taught in Woodridge and Woodford County, racking up thousands of miles while still helping struggling readers.

Along the way Len and Jo had four lucky children, Jon (Patty), Peg Kramer, Carol (Ron) Hale and Mark (Denise). Gramma Jo adored her grandchildren, Jenny, Zarah (Jason), Sam (Karin), Will (Zoe), Atticus (Cosette), and Ryan.

On her many stops, our vivacious redhead accumulated innumerable friends. Jo’s infectious laughter made her popular at parties. And she just might laugh out loud in church if she noticed toilet paper on your shoe. She released her inner Irma Bombeck every December in her Christmas letter. For some reason, people (even those who barely knew her) could not help confiding secrets in Jo. (If you did, your secret remains safe.) Jo was unbeatable at Trivial Pursuit and Name That Tune. She loved hymns, marches, and show tunes – but please don’t let the tempo drag.

Upon “retiring” to the family farm south of Oxford, Iowa, Leonard kept Jo busy volunteering at the Crisis Center, mediating small claims at the Johnson County Courthouse, worshiping at Sharon Center United Methodist Church, and traveling the world. Later, Jo and Leonard met even more friends and had more laughs with the fine folks at Melrose Meadows in Iowa City.

Leonard passed away in 2017, and Jo finally caught up on her sleep. Jo’s last stop on her whirlwind tour through life was at Crestview Specialty Care in West Branch. Jo was grateful for the friends she made among the staff and residents at Crestview and the love they showed her. She talked about Leonard to everyone, and in her final years, she said he visited her often, even if he couldn’t stay for dinner.

Jo was preceded in death by her parents, sister, and her husband. She is survived by her four children and their families, cousins, nieces, nephews, and in-laws, as well as many friends, former students, and other fans.

Jo and Leonard were longtime donors and volunteers at the Iowa City Crisis Center and Food Bank. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the CommUnity Crisis Center in Iowa City or Sharon Center United Methodist Church, Kalona.

Jo never lost her gratitude or her sense of humor. Jo would want you to know that in 95 years she seized every chance to laugh that life presented. Even in church. She would want you to do the same.